Atropos
Atropos is the former fiancee of then Arch Bishop Pia Arrabo. Her first and last appearance is in Raunch Five. She is the daughter of Stefanos, a former Lord Bishop of Jolen-Heli in the last days before Constantinople became Istanbul. She successfully infiltrated Pia's Congregation as a spy for the Vatican, but before she could carry out her mission, she was discovered, sentenced and executed. __TOC__ Early Life Atropos was born in Sparta, Greece to gladiator Stefanos and a fitness trainer named Gymnopa, a marriage-by-abduction, prearranged by her father, a Spartan politician that Stefanos worked for. The forced marriage lasted only two years before Stefanos left Greece for Constantinople where he remarried a docile woman named Rhea and had three children. Atropos' mother then relocated to Athens where Atropos grew up in nobility and prestige. Training & Reunion By her early 20's, Atropos grew to hate the Turks and blamed them for ruining Greece. She left college in the middle of her second year and jointed a Catholic youth group that opposed Murad II. Most of the members were nomads who wandered from place to place. One day a Catholic priest spotted Atropos picking the pocket of a nobleman and nabbed her. Instead of taking her to the authorities, he turned her over to the local chapter of monks. The priest who discovered was a "General Superior" and her offered to train her as a spy to infiltrate the Eastern Churches as an alternative to jail time. Atropos underwent extreme conditioning and was often tortured on occasions. There were rumors that the priests repeatedly had sex with Atropos to prevent her from having any emotional ties with her victims. When Atropos was ready, she was given her first and only assignment: The Holy Father Church. Before Atropos traveled to Istanbal, she stopped in Sparta and found her biological father Stefanos lame and in poor health. Atropos stayed with her father until he died. She buried him in an unmarked grave and swore vengeance on the family of Jolen-Heli. Before Stefanos died, he gave Atropos his ivory-handle fighting dagger, a trinket from his mother (a soothsayer) that he used to cut his first initial into the flesh of the gladiators and fighters he had defeated. Raunch Five In the year 1465, Atropos is made a Lady Bishop in the Church of Fatherless Time. Atropos is one light-skinned woman among many dark-skinned Lady Bishops and it is made clear that the Head Abbess Mia Arrbo is not very fond of her. Atropos begins working on the Church's Arch Bishop immediately, trying to seduce him when ever he's alone and even randomly exposing herself to him. One night she catches the Arch Bishop pleasuring himself; she takes this opportunity and joins in to finish the job. A month later, Pia announces that he is engaged to Atropos. The Lady Bishops are furious and, one evening, viciously attack Atropos. Pia has the women of the Church issue Atropos an apology or face excommunication. The Lady Bishops refuse and are indefinitely removed from the Congregation. Lady Mia disagrees with her son marrying a Greek and says that she will never approve of the union. Pia pushes onward with the wedding, planned for June of 1467. On the night before her wedding, Atropos slips into the Arch Bishop's chamber and attacks him. He is nearly castrated and horribly mutilated from the ordeal; Atropos cuts her first initial into Pia's skin just below his navel. Atropos then moves to murder Lady Mia, but she is surprised to find that the Abbess is skilled with a sword. Atropos is wounded by Mia, but Mia doesn't kill her. Atropos is arrested and taken away by the authorities. Sentencing & Death While in jail, Atropos awaits word from the monks. When the General Superior who inducted her finally arrives, he denies knowing her. Realizing she has been betrayed, Atropos begs the courts for mercy. Being that Atropos is a Greek citizen, the Turkish authorities turn her over to the Ottoman officials (Pia's Lord Bishops in disguise). Thinking she's being extradited back to Greece, Atropos begins to brag about what she did to Pia Arrabo. But when the carriage arrives at the Church, Atropos realizes that she's going to be executed. For her attack on the Arch Bishop and attempt on the Abbess' life, Pia orders Atropos to be hung upside down and sawn in half from her groin to her gullet. Atropos faints after hearing what her punishment will be, but as soon as she is revived, she is swiftly cut asunder on the front lawn of the Church where dozens witness her agonizing end. Aftermath Atropos' body halves are sent to the Vatican and the General Superior as a warning of what will happen to any more spies they might think of sending. Pia was later referred to as "The Blood Cardinal" by the Catholic Church, but the poor attempt at demonization had very little effect and only strenghtened fear of Pia Arrabo from Eastern Orthodox Churches as well as those in the Protestant and Islamic faiths.